Saturday, 26 January 2008

I recently attended the Professional Convention Management Association in Seattle. After four days at the conference and countless speakers, someone finally named God. Mr. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ended his talk by referring to Him as the creator, but then went on to specifically use His name – God. He pointed out that every major religion can trace a defining moment to time spent in the wilderness. Kennedy said, and I parphrase from memory, that "Buddha and Mohammed went into and came out of the wilderness and moved their religions forward – Mohammed to write the Koran, Buddha to discover Nirvana. Moses spent his time on the mountain productively, emerging with the Ten Commandments. Christ realized his divinity after forty days in the wilderness, and John the Baptist, Christ’s mentor (Kennedy’s words) lived in a desert on locusts and honey. Kennedy’s point, in defense of ecology, was that if one wants to see the face of God (metaphorically) or be closer the Creator, one must study and appreciate creation. That’s a fair point. He compared it to Michaelangelo. You can read about his work, or you can go and see it with your own eyes. Kennedy said that God communicates through works of art, through music, through man and through nature."

Amongst the many good points Kennedy made, I realized two things. First, that before he spoke today not one speaker or presenter that I heard had attributed anything to God the entire time we were here. That’s not unusual at these conferences, but I do long for the days when we began a meal with a prayer. Heck, I would love the chance to get to Mass on Sunday but usually the conference agenda fails to account for people of faith, whatever faith. That has to change.

And secondly, unless we give credit where credit is due, unless we allow God, we leave the door wide open to the evil one.